


remus slept through history of magic (and we don’t blame him, but still)

by aeridi0nis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Full Moon Remus Lupin, Full Moons, Gen, Madam Pomfrey - Freeform, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Remus Lupin Whump, Remus Lupin is tired, Remus Lupin needs a nap, Remus is stubborn, Sirius is concerned, Werewolf Remus Lupin, Young James Potter, Young Remus Lupin, Young Sirius Black, remus is ill, the fucking moving staircases
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27634928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeridi0nis/pseuds/aeridi0nis
Summary: ‘How are you supposed to murder us if you can’t even remember your timetable? Or keep your eyes open?’ Peter scoffed.‘The sword of Godric Gryffindor will present itself to any worthy Gryffindor, Pete. Try me.’***Remus is absolutely fine, the full moon is still days away, and he’s got classes to attend, which is fine, because Remus is fine, and not at all tired, and there’s absolutely no need to see Madam Pomfrey, because he’s fine (Except none of this is true, but you didn’t hear that from James, Peter or Sirius, okay?).
Relationships: Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter
Comments: 6
Kudos: 90





	remus slept through history of magic (and we don’t blame him, but still)

**Author's Note:**

> just a short little light thing!! the second thing I’ve ever posted. I wanna start tagging songs to the things I write, not necessarily songs that relate to the plot/vibe, just whatever I feel like, so here!  
> emily - declan mckenna  
> up the junction - squeeze

‘Remind me again why we did this to ourselves, Prongs.’

‘I dunno mate. He’s outdone himself, he really has, I reckon this is what the Dementor’s kiss feels like. Bet this is how he died – bored himself to death, poor bastard.’

‘No, seriously, I need you to tell me why we signed up for this class. You want to be a legilimens? Try it out on me. Search me, find out why on earth we agreed to put ourselves through this for two more years, because Merlin knows I must have suppressed that memory.’

‘That’s not how legilimency works. And I don’t want to be a legilimens anymore. Evans said Occlumency is more impressive.’

‘Do I look like I care?  _Make_ it how it works, because I demand answers. I reckon we’ve been imperioused, I love myself too much to have knowingly taken NEWT level History Of Magic. Why didn’t we listen to Peter? Bet that little bastard is having a  _grand_ fucking time in Herbology. Fucking plants. I could deal with fucking plants.’

‘You have allergies, so actually, no, you _couldn’t._ You’d be finished off by a bit of gillyweed, mate.’

‘And what does it say about Binns that Herbology is the more attractive option here anyway?’

‘Have you taken any notes..at all?’

‘Merlin, no, who do you take me for? Have you?’

‘Enough. Besides,  _I_ know why we took it: Remus is good at it. Remember? He got full marks for his OWLs? So we said we’d keep him company in return for him giving us his notes. Ringing any bells yet? Its easy grades, Pads.’

‘Doesn’t feel worth it.  Divination would’ve been easy grades too, it’s genuinely just drinking tea and making up bollocks. I could’ve been _drinking tea_ right now. Remus, I fully blame you for—‘

Sirius turned around in his seat to look at Remus, and found him asleep, his cheek against the wood of his desk, arms folded beneath his head. His light-brown hair fell limply, obscuring his eyes, but he definitely wasn’t conscious. Sirius frowned, turning to James, who was sitting in the desk next to him. At the front of the class, Professor Binns droned on obliviously to the three or four students still listening. Something to do with Banshees? Sirius didn’t care.

‘Did you know he was asleep?’

‘Can’t say I did, I haven’t had the energy to turn round since Binns started on the essay questions, and I think he was still alive back then.’

‘ _McKinnon_ ,’ Sirius hissed, catching the attention of Marlene, who was sitting next to Remus and plaiting her dark hair idly. Sirius jerked his head towards Remus’ slumped form. ‘How long has he been asleep for?’

‘Literally went down about ten minutes in, poor baby, he looked like shit. He was really trying not to, too, though I don’t fucking see why he bothered. I’m skiving next lesson, I swear, detention is better than this.’

‘Fair,’ Sirius muttered, turning back to James. ‘ _Ten_ minutes in? That’s not just boredom, Jamie,’ he whispered. ‘He’s falling asleep all the time now, he’s not usually this tired four days before a..y’know.’

‘They’re getting worse. Even without the injuries, he seems sicker between moons now, and for longer. The build-ups are getting worse. Do we wake him up?’

‘Nah, let him sleep, he needs it. How long do we have left of this lesson?’

‘Dunno. Ten years, probably,’ James groaned, throwing his head back in frustration.

‘How long _really_ though?’

‘Er—‘ James glanced at his watch, a big gold thing – a Potter heirloom – and from his relieved smile was pleased with what he found. ‘About seven minutes.’

Sirius nodded, leaning back in his seat. ‘Take the best notes you can from now till the end, he’s not going to have anything written down at all, he’ll need them. And, since he’s the reason we’re here, _we’re_ going to need him to have them, you see?’

James made a face. ‘Why do _I_ have to take notes? You’ve done nothing all lesson except throw paper at Dorcas.’

At the poorly-hushed mention of her name, Dorcas Meadowes whipped her head round to glare at the pair of them, brushing a rogue ball of parchment from her golden curls. James gestured accusingly at Sirius, holding his hands up in a protest of his own innocence, while Sirius blew her a dramatic kiss complete with a wink for good measure. Dorcas flicked one of the balls back at them, turning back to face the front with a scowl still plastered across her freckled face.

‘Exactly, I’ve done nothing all lesson, and I’m simply not in the right headspace to start now. _You_ said you’d been taking notes anyway, so you’re already in the flow of it,’ Sirius grinned, waving his hand dismissively. ‘It’s psychology, Jamie.’

‘It’s _what?’_

‘Mind stuff.’

___

‘Remus? Moony, mate, class is over.’

Remus lifted his head slowly, blinking in confusion until he realised where he was. He groaned as he ran a hand through his mess of hair and down his face. ‘Fuck..I must’ve.. _fuck.’_ Yawning, he looked down at his parchment in front of him, which was blank save for the date and title.

‘Slept through the whole sodding thing, you lucky bastard. Took notes for you, they might not be Remus Lupin standard, but they’ll do,’ James explained as he helped him pack his things away. Most of the class had already left – shockingly, no one was eager to linger. Remus pushed himself to his feet with a heavy sigh, and Sirius noted the way he seemed to wince as he did so. He didn’t usually wince _before_ a moon, did he?

‘It’s dinner now, right?’ Remus asked.

James frowned. ‘No, mate, we’ve got Defence now. Not dinner yet.’

Remus’ face fell. ‘Oh.’

Sirius smiled at him, clapping him on the back. ‘Come on, Moons. Defence isn’t that bad, Snivellous is in it and I’m going to miniaturise his chair – oi, don’t look at me like that Mr Prefect, I won’t miniaturise _him,_ Merlin knows there’s no spell strong enough to shrink a nose that large. Just leave your homework on Binns’ desk and let’s leave before he tries to _chat_ , I seriously can’t listen to his voice for any longer.’

‘Yeah, because _you_ were listening,’ James snorted. His smile faltered, however, when he looked at Remus. ‘We..there was homework?’ Remus asked quietly.

Sirius shot James a look, as if to say ‘ _See? He’s not alright.’_

‘Yeah, there was,’ Sirius replied softly. ‘He set it last week. Early giant treaties?’

Remus screwed his face up, trying to recall any memory of Binn’s homework. He seemed to come up empty. ‘..Oh.’

‘No worries, we’ll sort it. Just go to Defence, Moony. We’ll meet you there.’

‘Sirius, you don’t need to—‘

‘Go, Remus. How many times have you leant me your notes?’

He looked reluctant, and more importantly he looked _ill,_ but Remus nodded and left the class. Watching him go, it was clear the upcoming moon was starting to wear on him. It was going to be a bad one. How had they not noticed until now? He couldn’t have looked that bad at the start of the day, they would’ve caught on, right? Sirius swallowed his guilt and dug his own essay out, leaning on Remus’ vacated desk to scribble out his own name and add Remus’. Binns wouldn’t realise Sirius hadn’t submitted anything until next lesson, and he could deal with a detention, especially now it seemed that Marlene was likely to be joining him. He thrust it onto the pile on Binns’ desk as he passed it, bolting out the door as quickly as possible and dragging James behind him.

‘D’you see how he was walking? Swaying and stuff, he’s definitely ill. Did he used to be this disorientated before a moon?’ Sirius whispered as they walked.

‘He was like this with the one before, but only for the first two days,’ James replied, blending into the throng of students on their way to their next lesson.

‘Do you ever see him fall asleep before you when you’re in bed? I don’t,’ Sirius asked. James furrowed his brow for a moment, before shaking his head.

‘Never, he’s always awake when I fall asleep, and awake when I wake up in the morning. But..he falls asleep during the day a lot. You were in detention last month, _after_ the moon – still can’t believe only you got done for that, by the way – and he fell asleep at the library, and then again at dinner.’

‘Can he take anything for it?’

James shrugged as they rounded a corner. ‘Dunno, we’d have to ask Pomfrey, and he won’t like us asking without telling him.’

‘Then we’ll tell him.’

‘He still won’t like it.’

‘And that’s stopped us when? _’_

They almost didn’t see him standing there, back to them as he faced a portrait of a sombre woman with her baby in the centre of several intersecting corridors. He was taller than the general crowd, but there were so many bodies flowing through the halls and up the staircase that it was easy to lose sight of anybody. His shoulders were sagged, though he was gripping the strap of his bag so tightly that his knuckles were white.

‘Remus?’

He started at his name, whipping his head round to follow to James’ voice. Somehow, his face looked waxier and paler than it’d been five minutes ago. It was hard to tell if he was sweating or shivering from the way his hair hung matted over his forehead, but it was one of the two.

‘Hm?’ He hummed absently.

‘Remus, uh..what are you doing? Why haven’t you gone to Defence yet?’ Sirius asked. Something wasn’t right, and he could see the cogs turning in Remus’ head, looking for a lie.

‘I was just…looking at this portrait.’ It ended up being a pretty terrible lie.

‘...Right. It’s – er – lovely. Very moving. Literally. Well, should we go? We’ll be late, and I’ve already got one detention down for me, and if all goes well I’ll be getting another one courtesy of Snivellous, but I think three in one day could be considered showing off, don’t you?’

‘Let’s go, then,’ Remus replied, but he made no move to go, instead looking at them expectantly. Sirius shot James a glance, to which James responded with a discreet nod to show he understood Sirius’ intentions, and they both made no move to go, either.

‘After you, Remus,’ Sirius smiled politely, and Remus’ eyes widened a little, his grip on his bag somehow tightening. They stared at each other for a while, before he sighed and mumbled something that was lost in the noise of the crowds around them.

‘Huh?’

‘I..I can’t quite remember,’ Remus repeated quietly, looking at the floor.

‘Remember what?’

’The way. I can’t remember where we are.’

Sirius felt something go cold in the bottom of his stomach as he watched Remus with a look that he could only hope didn’t come off as pity. Things were definitely getting worse, he couldn’t remember him ever getting lost before. Remus stuffed his free hand into his pocket, pulling at a loose thread and looking anywhere but at James and Sirius.

‘You’re at school, mate,’ James said, puzzled.

‘I know _that_ , Christ,’ Remus shot back, a little life sparking in his amber eyes as he finally met James’ gaze. ‘But I don’t..I don’t remember my way round this part of the castle. The way from History to Defence, specifically. There’s too many corridors, it’s too loud, I can’t think. I don’t know, I just..I feel a bit..spaced out.’

‘So your plan was to..what, exactly?’

‘Wait for you two. It’s been a very effective plan, considering you’re now here.’

‘Has this happened before?’ Sirius asked, his voice heavy with concern. He started walking in the right direction, and Remus stuck by him, James on his other side. Once Sirius had shown him the correct turn to make, Remus seemed to recall the route a little better and relaxed, but he still seemed uneasy on his feet.

‘Yes, once, last month – the night before the moon. I couldn’t..I was so _tired,_ I fell asleep in the library, and when I woke up I left, and all the corridors looked the same. Doesn’t help that the fucking staircases move, to be honest. You were all up at the common room.’ Remus swallowed thickly. ‘There was no one around to ask, except some..I had to ask a group of first-years. And the worst part is they _knew.’_

‘Sorry, mate, tell us next time. We’ll stick with you,’ James offered sympathetically, relieved to see that he knew where to turn when they approached the next junction of corridors. Remus grimaced at the thought.

‘I don’t want to have to be _escorted_ round the school because I’m suddenly too thick to know where I’m going. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. _First-years,_ James. _First-years_ knew where they were going, and I didn’t. They’ve been here six months, and I’ve only been here six _years._ ’

Sirius scoffed at Remus’ self-deprecation. ‘Yeah, well, those first-years don’t have to deal with what you have to deal with. And also, Moons, you aren’t _thick_ , you’re fucking exhausted. You keep falling asleep.’

‘I suppose,’ Remus sighed. ‘I feel like shit, honestly, and it’s still four days away. But I try to sleep at night, and something in me – the wolf - doesn’t like it, thinks we should still be awake if the moon is up – even when it’s not full. I can..I can feel it in there already. It’s draining all my energy, he’s getting restless. Didn’t use to feel like this.’

James reached up to hold his hand against Remus’ forehead, ignoring Remus’ attempt to jerk his head away. His hand came down coated with sweat. ‘You’re boiling, mate. You should go to Pomfrey.’

Remus shuddered and kept walking. ‘I’ve slept through one class today, I’m not missing another.’

‘But if you’re ill, Moony—‘

’I’m not missing another class, James. I can decide whether or not I need to go to the Hospital Wing, and sure, I feel a bit rough, but it’s really not bad enough to bother anyone about it.’

Sirius, who evidently disagreed, touched Remus’ clammy forehead to see for himself. ‘He’s not boiling, he’s fucking freezing—‘

‘Argh!’ Remus cried, batting the hands away. ‘Everyone keep their hands away from my forehead, alright? It’s just..just flashes. But I’m fine, come on, I shouldn’t have said anything, forget it. We’re going to be late,’ he huffed, quickening his pace. ‘And stop looking at each other behind my back like you’re healers who don’t know how to tell me I’m dying of god-knows-what. I’m well aware of what everyone’s thinking. I’m fine.’

But James and Sirius shared the look anyway, ignoring the way Remus rolled his eyes.

‘What’ve you eaten today?’

‘I wasn’t hungry, Mum.’

‘So..nothing, is what I hearing. If you fall asleep in Defence, you’re going to Pomfrey. I’ll drag you there myself, see if I won’t,’ Sirius said firmly as they walked into the classroom.

‘Fine, whatever, I’m not going to fall asleep anyway,’ Remus muttered, taking his seat.

He was right – he didn’t fall asleep – but it took considerable effort to avoid doing so, and it was evident from the way his hand kept slipping and jerking back as he wrote. Peter was in Defence with them too, on Remus’ other side, and he noticed the movements, shooting James a quizzical look. James shook his head in response, tossing him a balled up note that Peter discretely unravelled.

_M’s got a fever, won’t go and see Pomfrey about it. Fell asleep in History, got lost going to Defence (he’s also in a right mood)._

_‘_ If that note is about me, James, I’m going to tell Lily that you suck your thumb in your sleep, I swear to god,’ Remus muttered bitterly, not looking up from his work. ‘There’s got to be more interesting things to pass notes about than me being tired, surely.’

Peter quirked an eyebrow, giving James an _‘I see what you mean’_ sort of look. James leant sideways towards Remus’ desk, keeping his voice low.

‘Moony, you’re _sick_. I can take notes for you, you need to go to the hospital wing. You haven’t eaten, and you’re going to faint if you try to pretend you’re fine.’

‘I’m not fucking fainting in front of people. It’s really not as serious as you’re all making it out to be. I’m just under the weather, and I’m also _extremely behind_ on work, and I’m about to miss another few days of classes on top of that, so you might as well drop it. Haven’t fallen asleep, have I? And I know my way back to the common room from here, no need to hold my hand.’

‘It’s dinner next.’

‘That’s what I meant.’

Another increasingly common side effect was Remus’ temper. He tended to snap at anything in the days around the full, so James wasn’t angry at him, but he was worried. There didn’t seem to be any helping him, but he knew if Remus ended up passing out he’d be absolutely mortified. Sirius coughed loudly from the back corner of the room (he’d been moved away from them all after an _incident_ involving fireworks and wandless magic at the start of the year).

Peter and James twisted round to look at him, shrugging defeatedly, and Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned further back in his chair.

‘I’m going to kill you if you carry on,’ Remus murmured, eyes fixed on whatever he was writing. He blinked slowly, deliberately, resisting the urge to shut his eyes for good.

‘How are you supposed to murder us if you can’t even remember your timetable? Or keep your eyes open?’ Peter scoffed.

‘The sword of Godric Gryffindor will present itself to any worthy Gryffindor, Pete. Try me.’

___

No one bothered him for the rest of the lesson (Sirius was busy receiving his second detention of the day – the Great Tiny Chair mission had been a success, though it was not without consequences) but it was pretty clear that Remus was struggling, frequently shaking himself to attention only to sink back into a slumped position. He’d rushed to dinner without waiting for them, as if to prove he could get there alone, and sat quietly throughout while the other three chatted, not eating anything (‘M’not hungry.’ ‘Merlin, you’re being _insufferable_ , pick up a fucking bread roll or _go to the hospital wing_.’). He closed his eyes at one point, too upright to be asleep, and they finally turned to look at him when his breathing had turned to laboured panting.

‘I think,’ he mumbled between breaths, eyes still closed, ‘I need to go to Madam Pomfrey.’

‘Finally!’ Sirius cried, throwing his hands in the air exasperatedly. He made an elaborate show of checking his wrist for the time (imaginary watches are, unfortunately, less than accurate, so he cast a glance at James’ very real one while he did it) and asking ‘Okay! Who had five-thirty? I said it’d be dinner, I wasn’t specific but I think that still counts, James, you had six-thirty - way off, Peter— _what?_ Okay, okay, I’m joking! We’re going, we’re going, okay, come on Moony, hospital time, up you get.’

But Remus made no move to stand, or even to open to his eyes. In fact, he didn’t seem to have heard Sirius at all, from the way he swayed lopsidedly towards the table. Peter frowned. ‘Er, Remus, are you..? James, er, I think he’s about to, er — _oh.’_

And then Remus had passed out.

___

When Remus had been discharged from the Hospital Wing later that evening, looking far better and holding three different potions that Pomfrey had thrust into his hands, Sirius had been waiting outside to walk up to the common room with him. Remus rolled his eyes when he saw him, but they began to walk together anyway, falling into step.

‘You don’t need to walk me everywhere, Christ, I know where I’m going. I feel fine now.’

‘Really?’

Remus sighed, running a hand over his face and pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘I feel..better. I’m sorry for being an irritable git, I’ll apologise to James and Peter later. I’m either that or unconscious, so I can’t imagine I’m that delightful to be around right now.’

‘You don’t need to be sorry, we know how you..we know how it gets. Just stop refusing help when you need it. You have a condition, Remus. Accept treatment for it.’

‘I will, I will..who saw me pass out? Need to know who I’m going to have to avoid for the rest of my life.’

‘Well, you were sitting at the table, so everyone could _see_ you—‘

Remus groaned.

‘—But nobody _saw_ you. As in, no one noticed apart from us and Marls, and she saw you fall asleep in History anyway so we just said you had fallen asleep again, since you just sort of fell forward onto the table. People are a lot less observant when you put a tray of chicken drumsticks in front of them, s’funny that. And then people left, and you came round all shivery and stuff, and I don’t think many people saw us take you to Pomfrey.’

‘I suppose that could be worse.’

He hesitated for a moment, staring at his shoes as they walked.

‘They’re getting worse,’ he admitted quietly to his shoelaces. They didn’t reply - apathetic bastards - but Sirius did.

‘We’ve noticed, Moons.’

‘It doesn’t make sense. The nights are better now you’re all there, the injuries are manageable, and I used to only get ill in..what? Two days before, at most? The weeks between..that’s the only time I get to be fine, before it starts all over again, and now I’m not even…it’s all getting worse. I can..I can _feel_ him getting stronger, he wants me out, wants control. I feel so agitated, _all_ the time, and it’s him, I know it is. I always knew it’d get worse with age, but I suppose I just didn’t really think about what that meant. Crept up on me.’

Sirius watched him closely as he spoke, studying his friend’s scarred face and dark expression. He couldn’t possibly have answers for him, but he still felt the familiar frustration, the powerlessness that he had grown to associate with watching his friend suffer. Remus continued, tugging at a loose thread on the sleeve of his robe. ‘Its embarrassing, but I..I can’t concentrate when I keep feeling him push me to the back of my own mind. The less I sleep the worse it gets.’ Remus sighed again. ‘I’m just really fucking tired.’

A few beats of silence passed before Sirius spoke. ‘Well, Pomfrey’s given you something to help you sleep, so…take it. And I understand you don’t want us hovering about you like you can’t look after yourself, Remus, but we don’t think that, you know. We don’t think you’re helpless or something. You’re just sick, and in four days the moon will come and you’ll feel better after. Until then..why don’t you keep the map on you? Not like we need it _all_ the time. I don’t know how you’d slyly have a look at it, but it’s better than nothing, right? Failing that, I’ll make you wear a little sign: _‘if lost, return to Black, Pettigrew or Potter’,_ how’s that sound?’ Sirius teased.

‘Sod off,’ Remus shot back, already smiling. He stared into the distance as he considered the proposal. ‘Actually, taking the map isn’t a bad idea. I don’t think it’s going to happen again, but I can’t run the risk of having to ask first-years again, Pads, it was utterly horrific.’ He paused for a moment as they reached the portrait covering the common room.

‘Thank you, Sirius.’

‘Always, Moons.’

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, if u did!! I know it’s not much, and it’s not great, but I enjoy writing a lot!! if u have something you’d like me to write, let me know!! the comments make my week, whatever they say :)  
> -ridi


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